Investigative Reports

Somaliland Office in Taiwan Rejects Sexual Misconduct Allegations

The Republic of Somaliland Representative Office in Taiwan has...

Ministry of Information Spends 600,000 US Dollars to Fix a Decade Old Radio Station

According to a contract signed by the Minister of Information, Culture...

How Somalia is trying to Stifle Somaliland – US ties with an Online Troll and a pseudo-Charitable Organization

In February, June, and  August 2022, Mr. Okeke-Von Batten filed Lobby Disclosure Act...
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Trump delivers warning on trade as he leaves G-7 summit

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LA MALBAIE, Quebec (AP) — President Donald Trump delivered a stern warning on trade to foreign countries at the Group of Seven summit on Saturday, advising trading partners not to retaliate against U.S. tariffs on the imports of steel and aluminum. “If they retaliate, they’re making a mistake,” Trump declared.

Trump told reporters he pressed for “fair and reciprocal” trade practices at the G-7 meeting in Canada, urging his foreign counterparts to eliminate all tariffs, trade barriers and subsidies in their trading practices. The president has been at odds with key allies over the new tariffs, which dominated his talks with the leaders of major industrialized nations in the Canadian resort town. In addition to the U.S. and Canada, the group includes Britain, Italy, France, Germany and Japan.

The president said the U.S. was “pretty close” to reaching an agreement on the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico and had discussed two types of sunset provisions in which any of the countries could leave the deal. Trump said the final outcome would lead either to a better agreement on NAFTA or separate trade deals with both Canada and Mexico.

Shortly before his arrival at the two-day summit, Trump injected additional controversy by suggesting that the G-7 offer a seat at the table to Russia, which was ousted from the group after it annexed Crimea in 2014. The president said Saturday that re-admitting Russia to the elite club would be “an asset,” telling reporters, “we’re looking for peace in the world.” Trump said he had not spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a while.

Trump was departing the Canadian summit several hours early, heading to Singapore for his summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un on what he called a “mission of peace.”

Somalia’s al Shabaab claims attack in which US soldier died

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Somalia’s Islamist group al Shabaab has claimed responsibility for an attack in which a U.S. commando was killed and four others were wounded when they came under fire in the country.

The U.S. special operations forces were fighting alongside about 800 troops from the Somali National Security Forces and Kenyan Defence Forces when they were attacked late on Friday by mortars and small arms fire.

“We attacked a military base … killed one U.S. soldier, two Kenyan soldiers and nine Somali soldiers from Jubbaland state. We also injured four U.S. soldiers,” Abdiasis Abu Musab, al Shabaabs military operations spokesman, told Reuters on late Friday.

He said the attack was in the southern town of Kismayo.

President Trump addressed the situation in a Saturday morning tweet, calling the U.S. soldiers heroes.

In a separate statement, the U.S. military said on Friday one local soldier was also wounded in the attack that also involved Somali and Kenyan forces.

The troops had been on a mission to clear al Shabaab from contested areas as well as villages the militants controlled, “and establish a permanent combat outpost” to expand the reach of the Somali state, according to the U.S. statement.

Kenyan military spokesman David Obonyo told Reuters that its forces were not involved in any operations in Somalia on Friday

About 500 U.S. troops are deployed in Somalia.

Al Shabaab is fighting to overthrow Somalia’s central government and establish its own rule based on its interpretation of Islamic law.

Hargeisa Mayor Supervises New Road Constructions

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Mayor of Hargeisa with HE President Muse Bihi

Mayor Abdirahman Aidid “SOLTELCO” paid a supervisory visit to the latest road construction in the Hargeisa. This road will replace one of the steepest and most damaged roads in the heart of the city.

The mayor has asked the resident of the capital to cooperate with the construction crew and to ensure obstructions are removed to allow them to complete the road construction.

Since elected, Mayor Soltelco has completed numerous road construction projects in the capital and though much remains to be done, as the youngest mayor ever elected to hold the Mayor’s post, he has done a great deal and has promised more roads and infrastructure projects to alleviate the traffic congestion in Hargeisa.

Alshabaab’s Broad Daylight Assassination of Somali Government Officials

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A Somali soldier patrols next to the burnt-out wreckage of a car that was used by suspected al-shabab fighters on April 16, 2017. Somali security forces shot dead two suspected al-shabab militants, an Al-Qaeda linked extremist group, who were said to be involved in firing rockets. / AFP PHOTO / Mohamed ABDIWAHAB (Photo credit should read MOHAMED ABDIWAHAB/AFP/Getty Images)

Alshabaab terrorist network has been waging a coordinated broad daylight assassinations against Somali government officials. The terrorist group of Alshabaab has been rumored to have a free reign in Mogadishu to the point where some locals have stated that they run a shadow government.

The deteriorating security situation in the Somali capital of Mogadishu has caused an alarm among international community where some high ranking UN officials and others representing high profile donor countries have expressed deep concern about the Somali Government’s inability to bring stability to the capital of Somalia.